My nice knives aren't that old, maybe 5 years, and I put them in the dishwasher all the time. They go on the top shelf, usually mixed with cups and other long items like spatulas that I lay horizontally (I just put cups right on top of the long items). This is so they don't rub against other metal objects. I haven't noticed any damage to them, and honestly I would rather shorten their lifespan than handwash them for years. I put everything in the dishwasher and never use heated dry.

I just found a site that lists reasons to not put knives in a dishwasher:

'Washing sharp knives in the dishwasher can be hazardous to the knife, the dishwasher and the cook! It is too easy to reach into a dishwasher and get a nasty cut. Sharp knives can knick plastic-coated wire shelves and other utensils. The force of the water can dull knife-edges by pushing them against shelves or utensils. The combination of hot water and the chemicals in dishwasher detergent can leave stains on stainless steel cutlery that comes in contact with silver or silver-plated flatware or copper. (These stains don't effect the knife's performance.)'

My responses:

I guess it could be a safety issue, but I think it would be hard to accidentally cut oneself the way I rack them.

I have never noticed damage to my plastic coated wire shelves. They just don't move around THAT much.

Maybe the knives do dull faster. I hone them and get them professionally sharpened. Like I said, I position them so they don't rub against anything too hard, especially not metal.

I don't have silver, silver-plate or copper. Do you? Would you put those in the dishwasher if you did?

Really, I think the reasons for not putting knives in a dishwasher are overstated.

Ok, RealSimple says 'Additionally, the intense heat of the drying cycle can cause knife handles to warp, which will eventually loosen the rivets.'

So don't use heated dry.

Here is a link that might be useful: Knife tips

I put my knives (and everything else) in the dishwasher.

If it needs to be handwashed it either never gets used or it quickly finds its way into the "circular filing bin" as my dad always called it.

Long knives like my chefs knife, butcher knife, bread knife, etc are placed under the glasses in the top shelf. My steak knives, paring knives, other smaller blades are loaded in the silverware tray, point up, at the very back of the dishwasher.

My dishwashers (I have 2) NEVER stay open. They are only opened when loading or unloading and I always unload the knives first, glass second (I have 4 small children)

I have had my knives for 13 years and they have a lifetime warranty on them. I try to take them once a year to be sharpened, though I will admit that sometimes I forget.

I had a short span, right after my first was born, where I loaded them point side down. I had 4 of my 12 steak knives end up with the very tips broken off. I mailed them back to the manufacturer, recieved a complete new set of steak knives in a few weeks and have, since then, never loaded tip down.

As far as separating from the handle, what is the quality of your knives? A high quality knife, IMO, has the metal shaft run the full length.

Cheaper knives have a blade which is glued or mechanically fastened to the handle. These kind fail more quickly than the other.

My dishwasher doesn't have a heated dry and has knife slots that hold the knives securely. I don't put in my wooden-handled knives but the composite and stainless ones sometimes go in. Life's too short...and it doesn't hurt 'em.

I'll put my sterling in too, segregated from stainless, but not THOSE knives because they do have some iffy construction, being 70+ years old.

Everyone is different, I would NEVER put my "babies" in the dishwasher! My knives are an extension of my hands, I sharpen them with a steel almost before every use. They will slice paper, and throwing them into a dishwasher would just make me cringe...

I would never put a wood handled knife into the dishwasher. In addition to considering the material of each handle, I would also consider how the handle of each of the knives is bonded to the metal shaft. With the right knife I would put it in the dishwasher on the no hot dry cycle. Life is short, I do not want to squander it at the kitchen sink.

Nope. Nope. Nope. You can have all my nopes.

Not only do quality knives cost a small fortune, I'm loath to dull the blades with abrasive detergent. Considering most good knife blades are only microns thick, they're very delicate and bumping and knocking around during the cycle would only serve to further dull the blades. I also worry about the coating on the rack in my DW - I've seen gross rusty racks after years of abuse.

Also, my mom is a medical transcriptionist, and she came home with a story once about a guy who reached into the dishwasher to retrieve something only to skewer his arm with a long blade that slipped through the top rack or something - went all the way through his arm nearly severing an artery.

If you hand wash them right away (esp after mushing up garlic) they clean up in a snap.

This post was edited by Swentastic on Thu, Oct 2, 14 at 13:44

I would consider putting a good knife in a DW to be highly disrespectful of a quality tool, but that's just me. I would rather hand wash and put away immediately after use. Takes probably about the same amount of time as opening and reaching into the DW and finding a safe place for it. Why move it around twice? Moving it is where the danger of dropping it or chipping the edge comes from.

I never put my best knives in the DW, and especially never any of the ones with wooden handles. I do have some inexpensive steak knives with bakelite handles, and I will put those in the silverware portion, but always point down. I also put forks tines down also. I saw in the news where a woman in England was killed when she fell onto a knife placed point up in her DW.

I never put my sterling silver in the DW - it comes out cloudy if I do, and so I wash that by hand as I do my good knives. Anything prone to rusting does not go in the DW either.

I can certainly buy various reasons people don't put knives in the dishwasher, but disrespect of an inanimate object is not one of them :-) (I'm with the side that says don't squander life at the kitchen sink)

Wooden knives, no. Any other knife is fair game.

sjhockyfan - Okay, fine. Where exactly do you squander your life :)

This post was edited by rmtdoug on Thu, Oct 2, 14 at 13:12

Ah, DW = Dish Washer. So relieved you didn't mean Dear Wife.

Where exactly do you squander your life :)

Watching TV :-)

Are you talking about butter knives or carving/sharp knives? The reason I ask is that your statement of "bond between the knife and the handle would be compromised" was true on silver because the knife was stainless and the handle was silver and people suggested hand washing the knives. You could also be talking about wooden handled knives, I've heard this before, but I think the reason you don't put sharp knives in the dishwasher is because the water hitting them can dull the blade.

I put all my knives in the dishwasher, even my wood handles. (They are not that expensive.) I do treat them with tung oil, DH sharpens them as needed. I put them in point tip down in the flatware basket. They still come out clean, no one gets killed unloading the dishwasher. They all still look and feel great and no handles falling off. (I've been doing this for as long time, 20 years or more.)

I would say that you can put your everyday flatware in the dishwasher - I assume that's what you're using at you big BBQ. I would never ever put good knives in the dishwasher - chef's knives, boning knives, carving knives, good steak knives etc. If your everyday knives are "good" knives, then don't use them at your party - use plastic knives.

I won a set of expensive Tuscan-made steak knives at a raffle and I had to promise the man who donated them that I would never put them in the dishwasher. He ran a high-end knife store and he had to promise the man who made them that he would tell that to all his customers or he wouldn't be allowed to import them!

I don't put my knives in DW. I spent $$$ on them, so why would I purposely damage and shorten the life of my investment? Also, how long does it take to wash a knife? For goodness sakes, it takes about 20 seconds per knife. Even if I have a dozen to clean, it doesn't take much time to hand wash them. Will take me longer to place carefully in the DW and to unload, not to mention the actual DW cycle time.

If it needs to be handwashed it either never gets used or it quickly finds its way into the "circular filing bin" as my dad always called it.

Life is short, I do not want to squander it at the kitchen sink.

Times, and attitudes, have changed since the good old days.

strayer, you have my blessing. Put your knives in the DW and don't give it another thought.

LOL, petra, that's what I thought, too!

I haven't read through all the posts but I thought I'd share what the Cutco folks told me (I inherited my mom's set of Cutco knives). They can go in the dishwasher (gotta spell it out to make sure there are no misunderstandings, lol). They have a lifetime guarantee on their knives so if anything happens to it, they replace it, no questions asked.

Our dishwasher has a flatware tray. One is no more likely to get a cut from a knife there then one in a drawer and they can easily be placed so they don't rub their blades against other utensils there. We have been putting our Victronix knives in the flatware tray for years and they are still as good as new. They have stainless blades and sturdy plastic handles.

DH usually does the dishes, but I'm pretty sure that our dishwasher doesn't have heated dry - that helps it meet low energy requirements. DH leans toward Texas Gem's philosophy regarding things that can't go in the dishwasher.

I do have a few knives with wood handles. Those I give a quick rinse and dry and put back in the drawer if I've been cutting something non-contaminating. Add a bit a soap and a scrub before the rinse and dry if I've been cutting raw meat or something like that.

I'm taking about good cutting knives. To those who are putting these knives into a dishwasher and then putting them away, I guarantee you are spending more time than if you had wiped them across a soapy sponge, rinsed them off, and dried the blade by wiping across a towel. I paid attention to how long it took this afternoon..about 10 seconds into the knife block and no danger of harming the edge or myself.

What do people do when you need the knife while it's being washed for an hour or two? I have four good knives that I will never, ever put into a dishwasher. None of them particularly expensive, but they just feel good in my hand and hold an edge extremely well. It takes a long time to find such knives.

Interesting thread. People spend $$$$ on a kitchen and then treat one of the primary, if not the primary, tools of food preparation in such a casual manner.

Because they were not that expensive to start with and I always caught the ex putting them in there if he did the clean up, I will run the wooden ones through the machine.

Sure they do not look as good as they used to look.

On the other than they are 30 years old.

It only takes 20 seconds to wash a knife if you are already washing other dishes. Those of us who wash knives in the dishwasher put everything in there. If I had to wash a knife by hand, I would have to take out my dishwashing supplies and sanitize the sponge or dishcloth after. I am a clean freak, but this is a task I do NOT enjoy.

If I need another knife when one is in the DW, I go and get one of the others. I have duplicates for this purpose. I hone them regularly and have not had any issues with putting them in the DW.

And actually, the reason I started putting them in the DW to begin with is because DH refused to hand wash knives. I got us both new matching Wusthof Classic chef knives and put a rubber band on mine. I handwashed mine. He didn't. I didn't notice a difference after a year. Really. Try it. Since then, everything goes in the DW.

That said, I can't wait to get my new DW with cutlery tray!

Only "sharp" knives in my dishwasher are the little quick cut knives from Pampered Chef used as steak knives.

Expensive kitchen prep knives are all washed by hand.
I basically use my dishwasher to only wash eating dishes, storage dishes and drinkware.
All pots and pans, baking sheets and cooling racks are washed by hand.

I didn't read through all responses, but I can tell you that with my old sterling (around 50 years old) table and butter knives the material holding the sterling to the blade melted or washed out over several dish washings. We had the knives repaired and there was no permanent damage, but it was a bit pricey to get them fixed.

I would NEVER put a sterling knife in the DW. Our stainless tableware, however, washed without a problem.

You will have to sharpen your knifes much more frequently, if you put them in the dishwasher. I love a super sharp knife, and even after one washing the blade dulls considerably, so you're not really saving any time.

Agree with you Bellsmom about sterling table knives, very costly mistake.

All pots and pans, baking sheets and cooling racks are washed by hand.

Putting aside the knives issue for a moment, do you hand wash all those items because they take up too much room in the dishwasher? I wash all of them in the dishwasher because I think it does a better job.

I do hand wash large items because they take up so much room in the DW and it's so quick to clean Scan Pans. I really wish I had 2 DWs; family of 6 and 24 guests over about twice a month! Silly me, I found GW too late. I hand wash my good prep knives bc it's so easy and I don't want to dull them. But I wanted to put the steak knives in the DW. Pretty much the only time we use them are for parties and then there are a lot of them to wash. That's when I don't like to hand wash all those. Thanks for all these interesting responses.

Also, I just started my little project of collecting sterling silver flatware, so I appreciate reading the post above warning not to put those in. Thanks!

Strayer- I too have a family of 6 and entertain a lot and I had 2 requirements (appliance wise) for my kitchen. 2 full size dishwashers and a full size double wall oven.

The dishwashers both get used every day and the ovens maybe 3-4 times a week.
If you ever get to remodel, I would definitely suggest it!

Part of the variety of answers is because dishwasher detergents used to contain sand which would, indeed, dull the blades. Now, only the really low priced stuff at the dollar store still contains sand.

Also, wood handles can be problematic. Its the same with wooden cutting boards, salad bowls or platters. Over time, the dishwasher can strip the finish off, the temperatures can be pretty hot and open the grain allowing water and detergents to soak in. Sometimes, wood is glued and the same environment can weaken the wood around the glue allowing seams to pop open.

Mineral oil might help the wood remain whole but can likely be removed by the detergents. Its probably easier just to hand wash wooden things.

I put knives without wood handles in the dishwasher frequently. They go in the top rack, held by little clips that came with the dishwasher.